Federer rallies for 3-set win at Indian We;;s

Roger Federer, of Switzerland, returns a shot against Stanislas Wawrinka, of Switzerland, during their match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament on Wednesday, March 13, 2013, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Wawrinka’s consecutive forehand errors in the gathering dusk of an unusually hot day in the California desert closed out his 10th consecutive loss to Federer on hard courts. The temperature reached 96 degrees — nearly 20 degrees above normal — during the day.

Federer, a four-time champion at Indian Wells, is going for his first ATP Tour title since last August. The world’s second-ranked player improved to 13-1 against the 18th-seeded Wawrinka, who was broken twice in the final set played in front of tennis great Rod Laver.

Federer was broken once in the third set after telling the chair umpire he didn’t have enough time to challenge the call on his first serve. He lost that argument and the game, but broke Wawrinka right back to tie it 3-all. From there, both players held until Federer broke Wawrinka at love in the last game.

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Federer has won 29 of 34 sets in their 15 career matches, with Wawrinka’s lone win coming four years ago on clay in Monte Carlo.

Federer next plays either No. 5 Rafael Nadal or Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis, who followed him under the lights on stadium court.

Maria Kirilenko got by No. 5 seed Petra Kvitova 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the searing heat to reach the women’s semifinals for the first time.

Kirilenko improved to 6-0 in three-set matches this year. Seeded 13th, the Russian is playing her first tournament since mid-February when she retired with a right shoulder injury in the first round at Doha.

Of the eight women’s quarterfinalists, none has spent more time on court than Kirilenko, whose total match time approached nearly eight hours before her latest match. All four of her matches at Indian Wells have gone three sets.